Originally Posted by
MRT2
That is why I mentioned it. OP has also been posting in the hybrid forum. Apparently he is looking for something between a hybrid and a mountain bike for general use. IMO someone told him to look at a used mountain bike, which is why he is posting here. Personally, I think mountain bikes have become a lot more trail specific than they might have been 20 or 25 years ago, and are not the best choice for general use.
and it is right in the name....MOUNTAIN riding requires a bike that is good for climbing and descending technical trails.
A bike actually good for MTB, will suck if used for the road/bike path.
The only reason old MTB are used for road/bikepath duty is that they actually sucked for MTB riding (compared to modern MTB). So that disadvantage actually is an advantage :-). And they used to be popular and relatively sturdy, so many old ones available.